Disorder-tunable photonic properties of periodic dielectric/metal superlattices

Influences of perturbative disorders to the photonic properties of one-dimensional periodic dielectric/metal superlattices have been numerically studied. In the calculations, two different disorders were considered, i.e. the disorder in position and in thickness of the metallic layers. Significant modifications induced by the disorders have been found in the photonic band structures. The modifications vary according to the type as well as the degree of the disorders. Both enhanced and attenuated transmissions have been observed in the photonic band gap. Detailed discussions on the calculated photonic band structures would provide useful information on how to obtain desired photonic band structures by introducing certain disorders.